1 April 2025

This EAGE E-Lecture "Change the Default Colourmap for Optimum Data Visualization and More Effective Communication"  presents a Visualization of multi-disciplinary data is fundamental to our interpretation and analysis of the subsurface, and how we communicate our understanding to others. In many visualization toolkits the default colourmaps are not scientific and cause visual distortion of the data. In the case of rainbow colourmaps, they also contain both red and green at similar luminosity, and therefore are not inclusive for those with Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD). Simple colourmap analysis and comparison plots of real data examples can help demonstrate the dangers of the default colourmaps such as rainbows and the benefits of a scientific alternative. Changing the default colourmap will not only improve the efficiency and accuracy of our data analysis, but it will also improve the effectiveness of our communication to others across geoscience disciplines as scientific colourmaps are not only accurate, but intuitive and accessible for all.

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